Improvement in machines for making bricks



UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MELLING, OF BOLTON, ENGLAND.

-IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR MAKING BRICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,535, dated October 22, 186.1.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MELLING, of the town ot Bolton, in the county of Lancaster and Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Molding and Pressing Bricks, Tiles, and other Building Materials; and I do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact speciticas tion of the sa'me, wherein I have set forth the Y nature and principles of my said improvements by which my improvements may be distinguishedv from all others or' a similar class, together with such part-s as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

. .Figure 1 is a plan or top view. Fig. 2 is a ,front'elevation Fig. 3 is an end elevation.V

Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, S, i), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 are detail views of ditferentportions of the machine, which will be hereinafter referred to e by letters more particularly.

In the manufacture of bricks, slabs, tiles, the., by machinery one of theprincipal diculties heretofore encountered has been the presence of air and gases iu the material when pressed, the expansion of which, when subjected to heat in the kiln, has caused fissures and cracks to occur'in the articles made, usually injuring their quality and often de;-

stroying them entirely; seeondly,it has been -found extremely difficult to produce bricks tirely clear of the same, and consequently could not be made so as to fit closely therein in their downward motion, because if they4 were so made the wear and tear of the machinery would soon displace them from their true line of motion and prevent their entering the molds or dies.v There are many other obstacles that have been .encountered in the makingpof bricks, dac., by machinery vwhich need not be herein particularly alluded to.

The object of my improvements is, first, to produce a machine which shall perform the entire Work of forming bricks, tiles, &c.,and1

removing them when so formed from the machine automatically and vwith rapidity;.sec ondly, to removeA theair and gases from the materials, while they are being pressed, by means'ofv air-pumps or otherwise, 'andthus prevent the articles formed from cracking during the time they are subjected to heat; thirdly, to produce bricks, slabs, ne., of uniform specific gravity and density, which result and efect are obtained by subjecting thematerialsused to pressurein the hoppers. previous tothe ultimate pressing operation by a peculiar arrangement of devices, which will be hereinafter fully described; fourthly, to insure the formation of true and even edges to the bricks or otherarticles formed. I eeet this objectby so arranging and actuating the rams by which' pressure is imparted to the material to be operated upon' aste cause them both during their upward and downward movement to remain within and be guided by the molds or dies, so that they will always fit and play closely audaccurately therein, and thus preventany of the material being pressed from getting between the edges of the rams and their molds or dies.

There are many other improvements incidenial to the working of. my machine which will be fully explained in the sequal.

EVE in the drawings represent the foundation-plate of the machine, having two upright supporting standards F F. l

B is a horizontal shaft extending across the foundation-plate and having bea-rings at each end in standards of the same.

AA are two driving wheels or pulleys, onev at each end of the shaft B.

' T'l are two connecting-rods, each attached at one end by a crank-pin to one of the two driving-pulleys A, and at the opposite end by a pivot to the lower end of each piston U yof two suitable vertical exhausting air appa'- ratus R R,used for purposes to be hereinafter describedl To the upper end of eachof the saidpistons Il, a rod V issecured, which, exteudingupward, is fastened to each end of a cross-head-'W above a traveling mold block ing off-of the bricks, dsc., from the machiney as fast' as formed, all of whichwill be herein described in their order of execution, an intermittent rotary 'motion is so imparted to the said plate by an arrangement of devices to be next described as to allow the plate to remain station ary duringthe operation ofthe devices used for the various results to be accomplished, the movements being simultaneous, but upon dierent molds of the moldblock.

Upon the shaft B of the machine is a bevel gear-wheel C, which engages with another and similar bevel gear-wheel D on the lower end of a hollow vertical shaft or bushing E',

upon the upper end of which is an eccentric F. The hollow shaft E turns loosely upon the shaft O of the mold-block P, having a bearing atits lower end in the foundationplate E E, and at its upper end in the resistin'ggirder N N, to be hereinafter referred to, extending across the frame-work. Upon this vertical shaft O is a ratchet-wheel K, havingl teeth corresponding with the number of sections into which the mold-block Puis divided.

With the ratchet-wheel K two spring-pawls M, diainetrically opposite to each other,V engage, and which are placed between the surfaces of two arms or levers L,'turning loosely upon the shaft E and extending 'across -the ratchet-wheel K. In the arm I, is a groove or slot l, within' which bears a stud or pin II 0f Fb 'HaVe-ling frame G. 'The eccentric F'of the shaft E', having motion transmitted to it from the driving-wheel by the arrangement of,

gears'described, bears upon thc inside surface of the traveling frame G and so operates the same as to cause it to travel back `and forth in a horizontal direction. Such a motion being ,imparted to the travclin g frame G, it, (thc stud IL) by bearing in the slot of the arm or lever the ratchet-wheel K to the position they first occupied to engage with the same, the inter-'- val of time occupied by the frame G inits backward movement being that during which the mold-block is necessarilystationary. The mold block or plate l), having thus an in'termittent rotary motion imparted to it by the operation of the devices above` described, I will next describe the meansv employed for lling its moldsQ, which is the first operation to-be performed.

T 'l" are hoppers, in which is placed the material to be pressed into the molds Q of the mold-block.

w a; are plungers or rams attached by short vertical shafts to the cross-head W of the machine. For the purpose of pressing the material'into the molds bythe plungers or rams 0c ma motion in a vertical plane is imparted Atothem by the downward and upward movement of the cross-head lV caused by the operation of the connecting-rods T T, hereinbefore referred to. A verticalmotion being thus imparted to the plu ngers or rams :r x, the material is forced into the molds Q, the sides of the molds serving as guides to the rams which molds after being filled are passedby the rotary motion of the mold-block P to the compressing devices, the air and gases being at the same time exhausted from the material in the molds Q, as will presently be described.

Y is a spring,r attached to the plungers or rams m, in order to relieve them of too great astrain when operating to fill the molds and so that they will exert an elastic yielding pressure upon the material in the hoppers.

In each end of'the traveling frame G are notches a a', within which are placed the upper ends of a vertical lever-frame I turning at the lower endv upon short horizontal shafts bearing in-standards z" t" of the foundation-plate E E. I is a lever swinging in bea-rings or sockets of the`lever-frame I at an;

intermediate point between its two ends, the two levers I and I combined forming what is generally termed a knee-lever. lever or arm I-"of the knee-lever is attached by a pivot, a block J, with two prongs or rams. This double-pronged block .I passes upward through socketsof a camway G G', perma nently secured to the standards of theframework. Traveling and bearing upon this camv'vay G are -guide-wheels R R', which have bearings in a two-pronged block C C', the

pron-gs passing upward into the molds Q of `themold-blockP. The upperends of the said vprongs form the bottom of the molds Q, dro.,

to be filled by the plungers or rams and thereby limit the depth of the same. p

By the forward motion of the traveling frame in a horizontal direction the knee-levers I I are so operated as to raise the prongs of the blocks J, which, abutting. 4against the block C C', 6to., of the guidewheels R', also raises them. The two pronged blocks 'C' and guiding-wheels R being 'thus raised-an' upward pressure is brought to bear -upon the material in thel molds against a perforated' block .Qof the resisting girder N, before referred to. At the same time that the material is being thus pressed against the perforated block Q the air and gases are forced out through the perforations'of the To thev said blocks Q into the air-passages O O', leading tothe exhausting air-pumps vR R to the pistonsfU, to which a vertical motion is imparted at the same time with that of the plungers of the hoppers. The air and gas having been en tirely. exhausted by the air-pumps from the material in the molds, the upward pressure upon the material is relieved by the backward action of thetravelingframe u pon the knee-levers I I', tending to withdraiir or lower the two pronged blocks C C of the guide-wheels- R'. The guide-wheels R R', turning upon bearings in the tivo pronged blocks C of the molds, travel or bear upon the upper surface of the camway G as the mold block or plate P is revolved.

In order that the bricks or tiles formed in the molds Q may be raised to Ythe surface 0E the mold-plate P, the said camwayG is so arranged w-ith ascending and descending planes I I K K that after the material has been pressedand exhausted of air and gas the wheels R', in traveling over the ascending planes l 1", will raise the bricks'or tiles to the top surface of the mold-plate, in readiness to be removed from themachine by the operation of devices which I will next proceed to describe, it constituting tlie final.

operation performed-by my improved ma-' chine upon the bricks or tiles. To the cross head `W is attached by a knuckle-joint a right-angularlever-arm Z, that,turns upon short shaftsin sockets ot' standards of the resisting girder N as bearings. To thelower end of this lever Zis attachedI by another 'oint'an arm or lever C whiclris secured at the other end by a pivot or swinging joint to the sliding or pushing block D. The downward motion of the cross-head resultv ing from the operation of the driving-wheels tion as to allow of more than two or only onemold of the mold-block to be operated upon at one time. h

. It is evident that the molds may be made of any desired shape or s ze, and that the depth or thickness of they bricks, tiles, dac., may be varied at pleasure by increasing or diminishing the distance to which the prong o r prongs of the block c project or enter into the mold brick, also that any desired configuration may be produced upon one or both surfaces of ,the bricks, tiles, tbc., by making the plungers or rams w, bottom rams C C',

,and perforated blocks Q corresponding with the eect to be produced. It is also evident that instead of only two bricks or tiles heilig formed at each o f the hoppers at one time, as represented in thedrawin gs, any desi red number may be allowed 'to be formed by simply increasing the number of molds, pl ungers, die., in the same proportion.

Having thus described my improvements, I shall state my claims as follows:

1. In one machine, the combination, with the mechanism for forming bricks by pressing the clay in molds, of an air-pump for exhausting the air and gases from thematerial in the molds so that the operations shall be simultaneous, as herein set'forth.

2. Thecombinaton and arrangementof the devices for performing the operations of filling' the molds,pressiug the materials therein, exhausting the air and gases therefrom, and rem0v ing the bricks or other products made from the machine, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with and arrangement in relation to a traveling mold block orplate having any required numberof molds formed therein of any desired size or shape, of thev lilling, lpressing, air-exhausting, and pushingoff devices so as to operate as herein described, whereby such intermittent motion is imparted to the said mold-block as to bring it in opposition with the said filling, pressing. air-exhausting, and pushing-off devices at the proper times', as set forth..

A 4. The perforated plate Q', in combination with the airpump used for exhausting air. or gases from the material in the molds, as described. I

5. S0 arranging the plunger-bearings as Ato cause the plungers to operate with a pennanentlyelastic yielding pressure while iilling the molds, substantially as described.

(i. The arrangement of devices for removing the bricks or other articles when formed from the machine, the same consisting'of the lever e' and the pushing-blocks D, operated substantially as` described.

7. The combination of devices whereby an intermittentV rotary motion Iis given to the mold block or plate in such a manner as to carry the molds or dies to the proper localitiesfor the material with which they are to be filled to be operated upon and remain stationary during such operations, the same consisting, substantially, of the eccentric-wheel F', wheel-frame G, and ratchetwheel K, operating together, as described.

JOHN M ELLING. Witnesses:

F. HooPER, Trios. J. MAYALL. 

